There is no denying the fact that electric vehicles (EVs) are indeed great and one of the best ways to help reduce air pollution. However, charging the EVs from coal-powered electricity is quite a hurdle. This is one of their greatest drawbacks. While they help reduce air pollution on one side, they consume a lot of electric power on the other hand. In order to fix this hassle, solar-powered charging stations are being set up gradually.
For instance, Dell headquarters in Texas planted some “solar trees” recently to charge their employees’ EVs, (what a treat!) Chicago too got its first solar-powered EV charging station in April this year. Following suit is New York, which has just got its first solar-powered station. All thanks to “Beautiful Earth Group”, a sustainable energy company. Lex Heslin, the president and chief executive of Beautiful Earth shares some more joy by adding that charging station is built of recycled, decommissioned steel shipping containers.
Apparently, the charging station has a capacity of around 6 kilowatts, which can produce enough power for a small house. With the help of the integrated battery bank ensures that the station can provide power anytime of the day throughout 24 hours. Interestingly, 14 of the world’s largest cities committed to using EVs just the other day.
London is one of the cities, which has taken the bold step to install 25,000 charging points across London by 2015. Let us hope the proliferation of these solar-powered charging stations help encourage other countries to also go for electric vehicles.